How To: Make a Jewelry Organizer from a Secondhand Table

by Chris Gardner
on Sep 22, 2010

Anyone who lives near a university or remembers their own college days can attest to the massive amounts of furniture that sit curbside during early summer. I happen to live near one of the country's biggest, which possesses a huge post-graduate population, and thus lots of transitions year round. On any given week, you can expect to find an entire room's worth of furnishing within a few blocks.

LATEST VIDEOS

MY LATEST VIDEOS

Of course, most of it is trashed and cheap laminate covered particleboard, but every once in a while, there are the gems. I found this foldable outdoor table(and the mirror in the photo next to it!) atop a pile of trashbags...with the price tag still on. It was a tiny bit bent, but no worries...I had other plans.

Pliers, screwdrivers, metal files, and other tools necessary to disassemble the table

150-grit Sandpaper

Spray metal primer

Spray paint

Wall anchors and screws

Electric drill

Finish washers

Small s-hooks (in the hardware aisle)

1. Do any necessary disassembly to isolate the table top, and file down any sharp corners. Use the sandpaper to remove any rust or shiny coating, then spray with metal primer. If using a perforated aluminum panel, cut at a 45-degree angle and bend back the corners to get the unit off the wall. Alternatively, use thick rubber washers attached with nuts and bolts.

2. Once the primer has dried, spray on a coat of color.

3. Let the spray paint dry, then have a friend hold the piece on the wall, where you'll want it to hang. Mark the best open spaces to secure it, drill holes, and insert anchors.

4. Making sure your screw is long enough to activate the anchor, place a finish washer on the screw, then screw into the anchor. Don't screw in too tight, as it may bend the metal, and to maintain flexibility in case you need to retrieve something that's fallen through a slot.

5. Use small s-hooks and clips to store your jewelry on the organizer, and never get things tangled again!

6 Comments

Great find! I remember the "dumpster diving" days in college when all the leases were up at the same time. Do you find that the spray paint rubs off on the hooks of the heavier earrings?

Lisa
on Apr 12, 2012:

If any of you have the metal or plastic coated metal closet organizers , you can use these to hang your necklaces! I use Christmas ornament hooks and hang my necklaces!! Now I can see all of them. Let's face it if you don't see it you will forget you have it! I have an extensive collection of costume jewelry and can see it all!

Glenda
on Jun 14, 2011:

Im so in love with ur site and fantastic ideas...been trying to figure out a way to display all my jewelry so I can easily see what I have right now it's in 7 huge jewelry boxes,baggies,drawers,it's everywhere and I have lost so many pretty pieces...EXCITED to try this for my own sanity and also for dressing up the bathroom where my jewelry w be displayed...

This post is a bit of serendipity for me - I'm getting ready to sell my jewelry in my first highend arts sale and for economy's sake am building all my displays pieces myself, with mostly recycled materials.

I'm - covering several Pringle potato chip cans with suede cloth to display bracelets, For risers I'm using small boxes rescued from the cardboard baler at work covered with wallpaper I paid a dollar for at the savation army.

I work with copper wire exclusively in my jewelry and have been using a lot of discarded elecrical wire from a neighbor who's an electrician and plan on building my earring displays with the heavier gagues and some copper roof flashing left over from a coworkers home renovation. I've been going into thrift shops hoping to find something to build a necklace dispaly. Your post expands what I've been thinking were my best options.